It had been hoped the major legislation would have been granted royal assent in time for it to be promulgated - announced - at Tynwald Day earlier this month, but some late technical amendments were required, which delayed its completion.

However, at this week’s Tynwald sitting, members were asked to sign off the bill, enabling it to become an act.

At the close of Tuesday’s session, President of Tynwald Steve Rodan announced the act had received royal assent.

The Equality Act aims to combat discrimination in the workplace and in the provision of goods and services, on various grounds including race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, and gender reassignment.

It started its passage for consideration under the last government and, among the late additions to the bill when it went before the House of Keys earlier this year, were the replacement of the word transsexual with transgender, as that could otherwise have restricted provisions to people who had undergone a medical procedure.

A new provision was also made for those who were ’asexual’, recognising those who have no sexual attraction to people of either sex.

Crucially, when the bill was drafted, same sex marriage and opposite sex civil partnerships had not been made legal. It has since been legalised and a number of amendments were made to incorporate that into the legislation.

The provisions of the act are expected to be phased in over a 24-month period.

7 Comments

A one-sided article again focussing on the concerns of these particular groups. What about the other groups for a change, the disabled for example, or the religious, Christians especially, who receive the most dreadful abuse on your own site here itself.

It should have been passed at least 6 years ago or before then when the Pensions Act 2010 was introduced to bring women in line with men's pension age. Another 24 months for this to be "phased"in For complete understanding anyone interested should read the UK Equality Bill. It makes interesting reading and I would like to see a comparison provided of what exactly has been introduced in the Isle of Man vs the UK Bill (we have named it an Act)

Yes, it never ceases to amaze how even persons who work in so-called HR (CIPD) and are supposed to abide by a code of conduct associated with being a member of CIPD will still behave themselves towards staff in a way that is discriminatory by their wordson/acti and they aren't even aware they are doing it. old habits and all that. Unconscious bias takes a lot to shift, some never will

How many years has it dragged itself through the mud of Manx resistance? Now comes the really difficult part. Ensuring it actually means something other than legal opportunities, personal vendettas and the amassing of large amounts of compensation in fines or personal legal judgements.